PENANG – Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (Malaysia Airports) through Penang International Airport (PIA) has been collaborating with the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) to mitigate the impact of possible flash flood resulting from the anticipated high tide on 15 and 16 October 2016.
While Penang is expected to experience moderate rain on both days from 5.30 am to 8.30 am, exceptional high tide is also anticipated to occur on the same days between 9.00 pm to 4.00 pm and 9.00 am to 3.00 pm. This higher than normal tidal level is expected to flow into the monsoon drains thus preventing rain water from receding quickly.
In anticipation of this situation and to ensure that discomfort and inconvenience to passengers are minimised, PIA has put in place several mitigation measures. These measures include clearing the retained water currently inside the available On-Site Detention (OSD) tank. This will result in faster draining out of water from the monsoon drain located underneath the kerbside if it were to overflow.
PIA will also closely monitor the water level inside the monsoon drain during the next two days and any excess sea water will be pumped out immediately into the OSD tank. Two units of portable pump will also be placed on standby to pump out water from the In-Line Baggage (ILB) area to the nearest main drain in order to ensure that airport operations are not affected.
Apart from this, Malaysia Airports has been working closely with all the relevant authorities to ensure that the drainage system for the entire area is properly maintained. This includes removal of debris, sand and silt in all the drainage system, both landside and airside area of the airport.
All relevant stakeholders including the airlines have been informed and notified on the mitigation plan to manage the possibility of flash flood and its impact towards overall operations and customer experience during this period.